Labels

No matter how obscure our tastes, almost anything we have a yen for is a mere Google search or eBay bid away. For good or bad, the same holds for business owners: everyone, it seems, uses the Internet as an avenue for free promotion and advertising opportunities. As a result, any business hoping to thrive must venture into digital services and online business. Obviously, e-commerce opportunities have advantages and disadvantages. Change can be daunting, especially when it means investing in training for employees in order to service clients. The investment in technology alone can be cost-prohibitive, too. In the race to outwit stiff competition

Wilmer, Dayton, Ohio, has added a new PS Mailers pressure-seal press. Economic demand from municipalities, schools and businesses of all sizes is driving the need for expanded capabilities and new products. The press allows for eccentric C-folds featuring built-in return envelopes (now available as a stock item); windows built directly into pressure-seal documents; up to six colors on both 11" and 14" pressure-seal documents; jumbo-roll capacity for pressure-seal and non-pressure-seal products; and integrated products, such as membership cards, shipping labels and magnets. PS Mailers is a line of 12, easy-to-operate pressure-seal folders and sealers. They use stainless steel rollers, accommodate variable sheet sizes, have

“Super-sizing” may have negative connotations since the release of a certain documentary a few years ago, but that doesn’t mean everything that’s been super-sized is potentially lethal. Offering traditional form/label combinations and affixed and integrated products is a healthy way for manufacturers to expand the variety of their services and products base. Even manufacturers of integrated labels may overlook everyday uses for such products. But, as consumers, we use form/label combinations and integrated products so often, they’ve become as ubiquitous as McDonald’s signature golden arches—well, without the same level of product recognition. First developed by Gary Stewart of Trade Printers, Phoenix, in 1980, the

Are your health-care sales ailing? Are your customers clamoring for something new? Remedy the situation with this month’s mystery product, which was submitted for the pressure-sensitive category in the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute’s 29th annual awards competition, and won a DMIA PEAK Award of Excellence in the workflow improvement category. Perfect for clinics, universities and hospitals, the product can help reduce errors and lower costs when dispensing prescription medication. Use the following clues to guess what the product is: • It is a multi-tasking, pressure-sensitive solution measuring approximately 83⁄4x 17⁄8"". • It is an all-in-one solution that breaks out into four separate functions.

Headquartered in Oak Harbor, Ohio, pressure-sensitive adhesive coater acpo ltd. introduced 505OB, a photoluminescent, self-wound overlaminate film. The product contains an optical brightener formulation that glows or illuminates when exposed to black light. Because labels laminated with 505OB can be easily identified by the luminosity, label manufacturers use the overlaminate for easy label detection and product identification. The clear, self-wound polypropylene overlaminate is 1.3 mils thick, and offers excellent acid, chemical and oil resistance. In addition, 505OB is slit to specifications and ships same-day or next-day direct to the end-user. A specification sheet for 505OB is available on the company Web site at

Rank: 1 Company: Discount Labels, New Albany, Ind. Labels & Tags Sales $(000): 76,269 Total Sales $(000): 76,269 Rank: 2 Company: Label Art, Wilton, N.H. Labels & Tags Sales $(000): 47,000 Total Sales $(000): 47,000 Rank: 3 Company: Diversified Labeling Solutions, Itasca, Ill. Labels & Tags Sales $(000): 39,200 Total Sales $(000): 39,200 Rank: 4 Company: Data Label, Terre Haute, Ind. Labels & Tags Sales $(000): 33,729 Total Sales $(000): 33,729 Rank: 5 Company: Gill Studios, Shawnee Mission, Kan. Labels & Tags Sales $(000): 31,350 Total Sales $(000): 47,500 Rank: 6 Company: Lancer Label, Omaha, Neb. Labels & Tags

Upon first examining this year’s Top 100 Suppliers’ sales numbers, the BFL&S staff discovered a $241 million decrease in overall sales compared with last year. This sent the team scrambling for answers. However, deeper analysis revealed a simple explanation. As our readership may have noticed, in 2004 and 2005, Quality Park, Englewood, Colo., ranked number one and two respectively on the Top 100 Suppliers list with sales peaking at $430 million. This year, the Quality Park brand no longer appears on the list at all. In years past, Quality Park consisted of six companies: DealerLabel, Discount Labels, Lancer Label, PrintXcel, Wisco and Quality Park Products.

Recently RFID has been in the cross-hairs of every media outlet. With big businesses and some government offices finding more uses for the technology, the general public is starting to feel a little on edge. Accusations started flying: concerned citizens groups fear this technology could lead to a totalitarian state comparable to Orwell’s 1984 and some religious groups even declared RFID to be related to biblical tales of Armageddon. “The unfortunate thing about that is once [a group] makes such a claim or statement, from that point on, it puts the RFID industry on the defensive,” said Max Golter, vice president of sales at

Statistics show counterfeiting has grown to become a $535 billion a year industry, and it’s expected to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2010. Counterfeiters are increasingly targeting high-value brands in the technology and electronics sector, as well as apparel, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and automotive parts. This month’s mystery product is a solution previously reserved for secure identification documents, such as passports and drivers licenses, that is now available to the commercial marketplace. It also adds an eye-catching feature to products and packaging. Use the following clues to try to guess what the product is: • It is a multi-layered security system featuring both overt and covert

Public speaker Dale Carnegie said, “All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.” To succeed in the label industry, manufacturers and distributors alike must go beyond the catchy campaigns promoting their company’s capabilities. Anton Dahbura, corporate vice president, Hub Labels, Hagerstown, Md.; Gregg Trebnick, CEO, Trebnick Systems, Springboro, Ohio and Terence M. Flaherty, president, Label Art, Wilton, N.H., do just that—their business mottos are a way of life. “Labels are everywhere and no one can afford to stand still,” Dahbura insisted. A 40-year industry veteran, Dahbura has witnessed many exciting label developments.